EU-Canada Agriculture Dialogue Workshops

Clients: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada & European Commission Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development


 

Expertise Applied:

  • Stakeholder engagement

  • Facilitation

  • Qualitative research

  • Plain-language writing & information synthesis

We recently collaborated with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the European Commission Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) on the following EU-Canada Agricultural Dialogue Workshops:

  • Soil Health for Our Future in November 2021

  • Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction in Livestock Production in January 2022

  • Organic Production in June 2022

  • Sustainable Use of Fertilisers in March 2023

  • Sustainable Crop Protection: Pesticide Use in Agriculture in April 2023

  • EU-Canada Dialogues on Sustainable Agriculture: Stakeholders’ Conference in December 2023

These workshops are an outgrowth of the Canada-European Union Leader’s Summit held in June 2021. There, the leaders committed to “launch a series of joint events to promote sustainability, environmental stewardship and climate action in agriculture, within the framework of the Agriculture Dialogue” under the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA). Ratified in 2017, CETA is a free-trade agreement between Canada and the European Union that supports economic growth in various sectors, including the agri-food sector.

 

The workshops are intended to enhance collaboration and facilitate mutual learning


 

A diversity of stakeholders – including researchers, academics, government officials, not-for-profit representatives, and farmers – participate in these events.

In preparation for these workshops, we researched and developed plain-language background notes to provide workshop attendees with a baseline understanding of the subject matter at hand.

We collaborated with the client to develop the facilitation plans and moderated the workshops. We synthesized what we heard into plain-language outcomes reports. These reports included tangible recommendations for the scientific community, policymakers, and all agricultural industry stakeholders to advance their work within the field.

 

Workshop Participants: At a Glance

 

Number of Participants

Geographic representation spanned Canada and the EU, including:

 
 
Cows in a field

Soil Health for our Future

Over 120 participants

GHG Reduction in Livestock Production

Over 110 participants

Organic Production

Over 110 participants

Sustainable Use of Fertiliser

Over 170 participants

  • Austria

  • Belgium

  • Bulgaria

  • Canada

  • Denmark

  • Finland

  • France

  • Germany

  • Hungary

  • Italy

  • Luxembourg

  • The Netherlands

  • Poland

  • Portugal

  • Spain

 

Sustainable Crop Protection

Over 90 participants

Stakeholders’ Conference

Over 80 participants

 
 
 

Is your organization interested in engaging with various agri-food stakeholders to identify new opportunities for collaboration, develop policies and implement climate-smart strategies in the agri-food sector? Our team of professionals can help!